Category: Credit Card Security

Crypto Credit Cards

The cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm, as it has finally shaded its fringe idea reputation and is now among the most hotly sought-after commodities in the world. Due to the industry’s wild successes this year, which has seen the industry multiply over 10 times in value this year, people are trooping into the industry in their millions seeking to be part of this gold rush.

And although the ways of acquiring cryptocurrencies has become exceptionally simpler over the years with most exchanges now accepting credit card payments, there are a significant section of investors who don’t wish to pay the astronomical amounts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are currently priced at. This naturally sends these groups of investors into the only other way of acquiring cryptocurrencies which is mining. And true to its rise, mining some of the more valuable cryptocurrencies is become more and more out of the reach private individuals, due to their capital and energy intensive nature.

But like every other obstacles there are solutions that have been made to circumvent them. Investor’s and cryptocurrency enthusiasts around the world now use what is known as cloud mining in order to still participate in the mining of their desired cryptocurrencies without having to make investments in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up industrial scale mining operations. Although there are a lot of cloud mining operations that are labeled as Ponzi schemes, but the industry is rapidly maturing and has some reputable and innovative ones like Miner Gate which seeks to take the cloud mining to new heights. Some of the great benefits that cloud mining offers the user include:

Simultaneous Mining

Most people who take on the mining industry by themselves do so by concentrating on a single cryptocurrency at a time to maximize the usability of their computing power (also known s hashing power). This is quite limiting as cloud mining operations offer the user the chance to maximize the use of their hashing power by mining for several cryptocurrencies at the same time which is also beneficial as far as spreading the miner’s risks are concerned.

Smart Mining Operations

To take this great innovation to another level, cloud mining service providers such as Miner Gate have another cool feature up their sleeve where by the users’ mining rig automatically focuses on mining the cryptocurrency with the most value among the multiple mining options offered. This is done by calculating the value of the cryptocurrency against the power needed to mine it. Users are of course not forced to use this feature as they can switch it off at any time of their choosing.

Small Scale Profitability

Cryptocurrency mining operations especially that of Bitcoin have the reputation of being too expensive and often small scale mining operations tend to make heavy losses as the cost of maintaining the mine is significantly higher than the reward obtained at the end of the day. And this is where Cloud Mining pools work their magic for potential miners, as they allow multiple small scale mining operations to pool their resources and mine as a single entity. Any reward gotten at the end of the day is distributed among the participating miners according to the amount of hashing power they contributed to the operation.

There have been increasing numbers of cyber attacks reported in recent years across all industries and it is costing the United States an absolute fortune in cyber security. Obama announced that $19 billion was to be dedicated to the ongoing fight against cyber criminals, highlighting the gravity of the threat it now poses to businesses and even households.

In 2016 there were widely reported attacks on PayPal, Twitter and Spotify to name a just a few of the big companies that have been targeted. The number of cyber attacks across the world is increasing and businesses are spending more and more money in deterring the crime.

Banking Sector Most at Risk

Of course, the banking sector is one of the industries that are most at risk, given the nature of the data that they hold. This means that banks have had to dedicate significant funds on developing their digital infrastructure to strengthen their cyber security. The banking world has long been seen as a very profitable industry and for many banks that still remains to be true. Investment banking experts like Fahad Al Rajaan demonstrate that the banking sector can still be a very effective way of making money. It is therefore vital that banks are protected from cyber-attacks.

Preventing Cyber Attacks

As well as spending more on software to reduce the chances of an attack, companies now spend more on resources dedicated to preventing cyber-attacks. This means that extra IT personnel are required, extra training for all staff and more resources allocated to analyzing their cyber security and performing risk assessments.It also means that more robust policies and processes must be introduced. This can vary from developing and delivering online training for staff to raise awareness about the risks of cyber security, to employing a whole team of experts to audit the processes. It is certainly becoming a very costly affair.

Cyber attacks not only cost businesses from the initial financial sting, they are also impacted by the reputational damage that the attacks can cause for years to come. If somebody feels that their money isn’t safe with a bank, then they are likely to close their account and go to another one that they feel will protect their money better. The more publicity that a cyber attack attracts, the higher the reputational damage will be.As mentioned before, the government is committed to driving down and eventually eradicating the threat of cyber attacks. Greater cyber security laws are being ratified and harder punishments will be a deterrent for many would-be cyber criminals.

Finding a Solution

It is unfortunate that such huge amounts of money are being spent on cyber crime, both by the government and by businesses. Until a solution is found, it looks like this trend will continue and the threat of cyber attacks will dominate how businesses setup their IT structures and policies.